The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-01-11


He IS in part public prosecutor, and it Is
his office to collect evidence against the ac-
cused The most important evidence is
that obtained from the prisoner himself; he
is Questioned by the examining judge in the
presence of a notary employed to take down
his replies. The examinations are numer-
Gus, and formerly the most cruel means
were had recourse to to extort a confession.
During the inquiry the prisoner is kept in
ignorance of the charge against him. and
any endeavor on his part to gain informa-
ton on the subject is an offense in law. He
is not allowed to a copy of his own
evidence that of the witnesses But
when the judge has failed to obtain con-
fesssion the prisoner is unexpectedly cou-
fronted with one or more OF the witnesses
against him, with an accompllce, II
there be one, in the hopes of surprising him
into a confession. Should the prisoner re-
fuse to answer he is put on diet OF bread
and water In cases of murder the ac-
cused is led to the spot where the crime was
committed, and the bleeding corpse or, may
be, the moldering remains are suddenly
shown to him. Torture used to be employed
to wiring a confession from him. He was
subjected TO thumbscrew, the rack and to
fire Sometimes he was kept for months
during winter without fire, and in damp
cells where he was agonized with rheuma-
tism and ague. The cases are innumer-
able in which false confessions of guilt were
thus extorted from innocent persons.
Others have committed suicide rather than
confess to crimes they had not committed.
The examining judge now proceeded
vigorously To collect proofs of Marie's guilt.
He took the evidence of lampert on oath
In that evidence Lampert acknowledged
that he could find no signs of his lock hav
ing been tempered with nor of the seal hav
ing been forced Nevertheless he was able
To swear by the date of the ducat found IN
Marie's pocket, that it was one of those
pieces of coin which he had sealed up in his
leather pouch and locked into the chest.
Marie was questioned. She acknowledged
that every evening she went into the bed
room and where the Golfer was to tidy the
room and prepare the bed for her master.
Usually she had with her the daughter OF
her master. She confessed that she had
been engaged in the room on the evening
preceding the discovery. Also she admitted
that the dress in the pocket of which the
ducat was found was one of her own, and
one moreover which she had worn ON that
very evening. Nevertheless, she persisted
in her assertion that she was entirely inno-
cent of the charge
The mother of the girl was next cross
examined nv the Judge The poor woman,
like so many OF the uneducated, thought to
save her daughter by having recourse to
faIsehoOd VI is n curious fact that the I'M
cultured in a civilized land, like the savage,
regards lying asRatiral means OF protec-
ton which it is always safe, and Never
wrong to have recourse to. Frau Keller,
confronted with the judge at once, and
naturally. fell back on lying. When asked
whence her daughter had obtained the due,
at the poor woman said that it was god
mother present to Marie, which she the
mother, had formerly retained in her pos
session. but which she had given to Marie
when she went into Lampert's service, be
cause she feared lest, in the event of her
own death her other children might seize
on the ducat and refuse to give il up to
Marie
The poor woman, in telling this story,
completely broke down the doubt which
the Judge had felt hitherto in Marie's guilt.
He looked at the ducat, and 1t proved by
the date on il TO have been struck four
wears after Maries birth The Judge at
once charged the woman with conniving at
her daughters guilt and showed her how
false was her evidence on the testimony of
the date the ducat. This completely up
set Frau Keller; she was unable to speak
for some minutes, and at last in a broken
and hesitating voice, told the judge that
Maries' mistress had sent for her and offered
her the money to indemnity Lampert for
his loss IL she would confess that her daugh-
| ter had committed the theft and persuade
| Marie TO do 50 as we'll
The Judge was so irritated at the woman's
| lie about the ducat that he dismissed this
| new story as fabrication false as the
former, and made no inquiry in that direc-
| tion. He ordered Marie to be brought into
| the ROOM and asked her whether she had
been given a ducat by her mother, which
| had been q christening present from a spon-
sor The girl expressed surprise at the ques-
| ton, and in her simplicity replied that she
had never had such a present
Then he confronted the mother with the
! daughter.
| Frau Keller, confused, and I'm her con
! fusion having recourse TO her original false
hood, insisted that what she had said was
true concerning the ducat, that Marie was
| half witted creature who forgot the sim
| plest things told her. Marie, on her side,
I entreated her mother, for Gods sake, to
| speak the truth. She persisted in asserting
that her mother never had told her about .
christening present and certainly had given
/ her none.
/ The end of this alteration was that Frau
Keller confessed she had told a lie, and
entreated forgiveness, because she had
| been impelled by love for her daughter 10
do all in her power to screen her from the
charge of theft and to save her life.
The lnqulring Judge now uehahoeu tha'
Marie should be put on the rack and be
forced to confess her guilt. The court
appointed "A counsel for the defence, who
| opposed this demand.
He pointed ont that there was no trust
worthy evidence against Marie. IL was
true that Herr L-ampert had lost money; but
what proof was there that it had been taken
by the accused. Was it possible that q
| rude, une1ucated girl could have contrived
n theft SO craftily that the smallest trace OF
tampering with the lock and seal was not
be discovercG2 1t behooved the accuser te
show that she had the keys and the signe,
Of Ismpert in her power, and this could
no. be shown He declared that he always
carried both about with him. and had never
missed either for q single day. How wa:
she TO know that the Golfer contained
money. when she was never present when II
was opens For aught she knew it might